Wales have made a lot of noise this week ahead of their 21st meeting with New Zealand since they last defeated the All Blacks in 1953, but from their captain, Ryan Jones, there has been not a word. He did not make his customary appearance at Monday's team announcement and has not been available to the media all week.

Given the emphasis Wales place on psychology, as they not only look to cement the gains made under their head coach, Warren Gatland, in the last two years but push on and make the top five in the world rankings by the time of the 2011 World Cup, Jones's absence is not surprising. Questions would have focused on his relationship with Gatland after the No8 was left out of the Lions trip to South Africa in the summer a year after being made the favourite to captain the tourists, and Wales are into positivity, not negativity.

Jones admitted in the summer that last season was the least enjoyable of his career. He was moved from No8 to blind-side flanker to accommodate Andy Powell and, lacking the dynamism that had become his trademark, his place in the side, not just his captaincy, was questioned. His omission from the Lions caused less of a stir than it should have done, but when Jones went to ground for a week it seemed he and Gatland, who had cited the forward's loss of form as the reason for his being overlooked by the Lions,, who had preferred a player, Alan Quinlan, who was not in the Ireland side, would struggle to repair their working relationship.

"As a rugby player in Wales, you live in a goldfish bowl," says Jonathan Humphreys, Jones's forwards coach at the Ospreys and a former captain of Wales who, like Jones, suffered at the hands of the media. "Everyone has an opinion about you, but people underestimate the strength of Ryan's character. He is a man of deeds rather than words and rouses those around him. By his own admission, last season was not his best, but even when he put in big performances, such as against Australia, he did not receive any credit. He had become a target by then but he is now free of niggling injuries and we have seen this season what Ryan Jones is made of."

Jones did make it to South Africa, but his call-up as a replacement was drenched in farce. No sooner had he arrived in Cape Town than he was checking in to return home after a head injury he had received the previous Saturday playing for Wales against the US was diagnosed as concussion. It seemed it could not get worse, but when pre-season training started, the Ospreys admitted they were considering relieving Jones of the captaincy, citing the pressure he had been under.

A few months later, Jones appears a changed man. He got married over the summer and moved to a village in Gower where he took to going to the nearby beach and getting on a surf board: he soon found himself riding on a crest of a wave on the field, galvanising the Ospreys in the Heineken Cup at Leicester and against Clermont Auvergne, and he has not only retained the Wales captaincy but recovered his position at No8 with Powell moving to the blind side.

"There was never an issue between Ryan and I‚" Gatland says. "That was something whipped up by the media. The reason he was left out by the Lions had nothing to do with his captaincy but his form at the end of last season. It was an easy decision to retain him as captain because he has been playing some outstanding rugby this season. The message for any player, captain or not, is that your form has to be good enough to get you selected."

Jones was made available to a select group of journalists last month. "What happened with the Lions is not an issue," he insisted. "I concentrate on what I can control. I've always said the captaincy is only ever a job you are keeping warm for someone else: it's not something you will have for life. I have done it my way and I have thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a great feeling [last month] when Warren told me I was captain. This job means the world to me and my family and I'm very fortunate to be able to do it again.

"Being the Wales captain is tough because you are always something to someone: it is not something you can leave behind you in the office when you walk away at four o'clock. It's a tag, a role you have 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Surfing has been a great escape for me: the beach is less than four minutes away from my new house in the car and it is a great escape when you are bobbing about in the sea watching the sun set. It does not matter what else is going on or what job you do, manual labourer or surgeon: it's all about catching a wave."

It appeared a few months ago that Jones was not waving but drowning, but Humphreys is adamant he will only get better now he has been restored to his favoured position in the back row. "Ryan is a person who all his career has shown that he reacts well under pressure," he says. "It is one of the qualities that makes him a natural captain. I am glad he is back at No8 because that is his best position. I am delighted he has got through what has clearly been a difficult year and emerged even stronger for it. He is a top bloke and player, and if Wales are to end their drought against New Zealand, Ryan will be the one taking them to the well."